Filed under: stand-up journal | Tags: 30, 30dayscreenplay, April, blog, comedy, days, futile, internet, love, month, NaNoWriMo, national, New York, novel, Orange County, scarce, screenplay, Script Frenzy, writing
Living without Internet.
Other than what should be a complete oxymoron, living without Internet is pretty much the most inconvenient thing I can do to myself. So unfortunately for you, my blog posts have become scarce, and my comedy updates intermittent.
But we’re back, at least for tonight. Since tonight, is a big night. Not only do I have a new video for YouTube (patience…I will post it soon), it’s also April 1st. If there were ever a month that could be anthropomorphically described as a burning pile of whore, April would be said pile.
Why?
Because I’m a bitter, bitter, human being, and I still remember the terrible loss I suffered from last year’s Script Frenzy, a national contest every April where millions of writers join to try to complete a screenplay in 30 days1, duly documented at the original 30dayscreenplay.blogspot.com. Exactly a year ago I began a journey. Thirty days later, I ended up with a magnificent 13 pages. Pathetic. I cried horribly and ate loads of chocolate while watching 27 Dresses.
But that was Orange County. This is New York. Different time, different story. More importantly – less sun, and a nonexistent love life2. This year, I shall so excruciatingly punish Script Frenzy with my furious typing that Script Frenzy won’t know the difference between brass knuckles to the face and its mother’s warm, welcoming teets3.
So go check it out. 30dayscreenplay. The challenge gets taken on for a second season.
—
1Brought to you by the guys who started National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo), where you write a novel in 30 days. Sherlock, I think I sense a pattern here…
2Okay, my love life was always nonexistent. But really, less sun this year, less distractions.
3See what I did there? I’m trying to say I’m going to punish Script Frenzy so bad that brass knuckles will actually seem nice, much like its mother’s warm, welcoming teets. I think Script Frenzy may be a cow.
Filed under: great finds, stand-up journal, video | Tags: analogies, comedy, teacher, Washington Post, writing
Great comedic writing can often come unexpectedly, like from these samples of analogies “collected by High School English teachers.” And by High School English teachers, I mean that these analogies are the winning entries in a 1999 Washington Post humor contest. The entire list of entries can be found by clicking here.
A few of my favorites:
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
I love the use of verbiage to deploy humor. And non sequiturs, which ironically are often best delivered by people who don’t do it on purpose, but just suck at life, like below.
Filed under: observations, stand-up journal | Tags: analytical, art, comedy, jokes, musicians, presentations, public speaking, showmanship, speeches
I’ve met a few people who are a bit surprised when they see a comic using the same set more than once, which made me realize that people generally misunderstand the nature of stand-up comedy. The general public doesn’t see comics as artists. They don’t even realize that comics are usually a completely different being on stage – that they’re actors for 10 minutes every show.
This is somehow intertwined with the reason why I think many people are turned off by the idea of seeing a comedian twice. They think they’d be paying to see the same exact thing both times, and I don’t blame them – a lot of comics do pretty much do the same thing twice.
It doesn’t have to be this way! <– [Exclamation point to show my frustration.]
How do musicians keep it fresh? Why do people still go to concerts when they have already heard the song played on the radio? Live experience brings a dimension to the experience that people can’t get from just listening to a prerecorded track. There are elements of improv and interactivity. Great performers bring a show. I believe great comics are also able to insert these elements to their performances. Switch up transitions, switch up delivery, switch up punchlines.
That last suggestion is a bit controversial. A lot of comics will be hesitant to change arguably the most important element of their jokes. This is where I disagree with comics who rely too much on their jokes. I’m no expert, but from spending the last decade of my life studying public speakers – from business presentations to comedy shows – I have found one connecting trait that was common amongst the successful. Great showmanship.
A great comedian is 80% showmanship, 20% jokes. A great comedian can make any topic funny. You can give them shitty jokes and they can turn it into gold. A poor comedian with great jokes is like a paraplegic with new shoes. Useless.
